Starting with Seramas

The purpose of this blog is to be encouraging and supportive to those who are just starting out in the "I think I'm going to get some chickens" mode. I read poultry blogs and get a great deal of information from them and I think it is a good way to solve some problems that eventually do come up. I have had chickens for about a year and a half and made a lot of mistakes until I set myself right and so perhaps I have some information that may help you. So this blog will be about chickens, mostly Seramas. I may have some to sell eventually on the web. Actually I have sold almost all of the cockerals and pullets that I hatched out this spring. I have two cockerals left- no hens and am keeping one rooster and one hen out of this batch for myself.

Buying Seramas. If you want to show Seramas, you want good quality good type Seramas. A lot of points are given for type, and a lot are given for temperament. so those are the two main things you should keep in mind when looking for Seramas. Perhaps you live in an area where there are a lot of good breeders. Florida? Lousiana? in that case you can just search for a pair, perhaps in the newspaper ads, or on line, and you have a chance to see them before you buy. Always the best thing to do. A fellow called me this spring wanting to start breeding and showing Seramas - he previously bred and shown dogs. So I told him the best thing to do, and this is what I would do If I could ,would be to go to the big Serama show in Lousiana in the spring, The Cajun Classic, meet all the breeders, look at all the chickens and buy a really good trio. And save yourself a lot of breeding steps along the way. But that option is not available for everyone. If you can't do that watch out - there are people who will take advantage of you. So always require a picture of the Serama, ask for age and weight. Tell the seller you don't want a wry tailed chicken and ask if the chicken has guaranteed fertility. Unless you just want a pet and then all this doesn't matter.

There is a new book out called "The Serama" By Sigrid van Dort. It is a small book and a really good one. It was available on the Serama Council of North America (SCNA)web site, but it sold out. Perhaps they will print more - I expect so. It will tell you all about the Serama and a lot of other things you should know if you are going to breed these tiny chickens.

Thats all the advice I have for this day.